1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to an apparatus for producing textured products. More particulaly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for producing fibers or filaments of protein products which have a fibrous or crispy texture. Examples of protein products having a fibrous texture include foods which are intended to be used as substitutes for meats; and examples of protein products having a crispy texture include foods which serve as substitutes for breakfast cereals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In copending application Ser. No. 481,853, filed June 21, 1974 and entitled "PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED PRODUCTS", there is described a process by means of which it is possible to obtain textured products, more particularly, textured protein products, which can very well be used as substitutes for meat or other foods. This process basically establishes that in order to obtain a good orientation of the molecules in the finished textured product while at the same time making the process trouble free and economical, the filaments produced from the raw products are treated in a fluid medium which travels at a speed which is lower, equal or higher than the speed of the continuous filaments as they exit from a spinneret, tube or the like.
According to Robert Boyer, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,466, dated June 29, 1954, the filaments are oriented by means of a series of rollers which exert a traction on the filaments due to the fact that the filaments are picked up by the rollers and that the rollers rotate at increasing speed relative to one another. This apparatus can be used only for obtaining a mechanical drawing of the filaments. However, the process which uses rollers for drawing the fibers is quite sophisticated. On the other hand, there is a definite possibility of breaking the filaments which may cause all sorts of problems. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will enable the drawing of the filaments or fibers to be carried out in a fluid medium, without running the risk of breaking the filaments, while at the same time making sure that the process is economical.